Inconsistencies (Season 1)
Due to the episodic nature of Life is Strange, there are several inconsistencies throughout the game. The following page lists all inconsistencies, sorted by the episode they appear in. Since the prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm was developed by a different developers team, there also can be found consistency issues between the prequel and the original Life is Strange. Episode One - "Chrysalis" Rachel's Future Rachel wanted to become a model. However, despite being a pretty girl, it is evident from her Missing Person posters that Rachel is 5'5 ft (165 cm) tall, which is too short for the modeling industry. Most successful female models are usually around 5'8 ft to 5'10 ft, which is just the average height for the industry. Chloe's Car Repairs Chloe Price's cost estimate for car repairs is signed and dated October 17th 2013, but Max Caulfield finds and reads the invoice in Chloe's room on October 7th 2013. Chloe's Parking Infraction The time seen on Chloe's parking infraction in Main Street is written using the 24-hour clock: 15:27:58. With the normal US 12-hour notation it should have been 3:27:58 p.m. infraction.png| Kate's Photo If Max chooses to take a photo of Kate Marsh getting bullied by David Madsen instead of intervening, the photo will appear in Max's journal on page 16. However, when Max is in Chloe's room later in this episode, the photo examined by Chloe is completely different to the one that was taken earlier. The pose of Kate in this photo matches the pose of a sketch of Kate on the same journal page. Kate-pola.png Alt-kate-pola.png katediary.png Nathan's Scratches After being scratched by Max, Nathan Prescott shows red marks on his cheek. In the promotional shot for the first episode, those didn't exist. noscratches-promo.png|Promotional image. noscratches-ingame.png|Game screenshot. "Trust No One" This graffiti can be found at the beginning of the path leading to the lighthouse, near the picnic table. Contrary to the one on a rock next to the lighthouse, this graffiti only appears if you took the blame for Chloe's pot. It is unknown if it is a bug or if it was meant to have a deeper meaning in a later episode. Interestingly, it doesn't appear during Max's visions. trustnoone-visible.png|The graffiti appears. trustnoone-invisible.png|The graffiti doesn't appear. Arcadia Bay's ZIP Code In the postcard sent to Chloe, Rachel wrote Chloe's adress stating that Arcadia Bay's ZIP Code is 97141 (which is the real ZIP Code of Tillamook, OR). Another postcard from someone called Amaury found in Chloe's room also indicates that 97141 is Arcadia Bay's ZIP code. However, on the auto repair invoice, the shop's address in Arcadia Bay states a different ZIP Code: 97603. This is also a real ZIP code belonging to Klamath Falls, OR. Note-chloesroom-postcardback.png|97141 Postcard.png|97141 again Chloe car repairs.png|97603 Max's Journal On Page 22 of Max's journal, she writes about Chloe: "It's so strange where our lives have gone since the last time we hung out when we were thirteen." With their birth dates (Chloe - March 1994; Max - September 1995), there is no way that they would have been aged 13 at the same time. Chloe would have turned 14 six months before Max turned 13. Episode Two - "Out of Time" Max's Selfie When looking at the selfie Max took right after getting out of bed (which she put on her desk), two issues arise: * On the printed photograph, Max is wearing her pink t-shirt and hoodie instead of her pajamas. * On the printed photograph, Max's bed is never made (red arrows), even in the case when she made it just before taking the shot (blue arrows). * The pink t-shirt seen in the photograph isn't even coherent; in this episode Max will only wear her white doe t-shirt. wrongselfie.png Mr. Jefferson Waiting Forever If Max enters the classroom after Mr. Jefferson received a phone call and then rewinds time as far as she can, Kate and Mr. Jefferson will have their conversation but the latter will never receive his phone call. As long as Max doesn't manually trigger the conversation with Mr. Jefferson, nothing else will happen. Kate's Picture If Max took the picture of David harassing Kate, she will show it to everyone in the Principal's office if she decides to blame David. Max then puts the picture on the Principal's desk. If Max decides to rewind time the picture logically disappears. But then if she decides to blame Nathan, the picture will magically appear on the desk (Max didn't put it there) and will stay on the desk even after rewinding time one more time, without anyone noticing it. If Max blames David again while the picture is already on the desk, it will disappear and be replaced by the new one Max puts on the desk. Blaming Jefferson doesn't make the picture magically appear. People Looking Directly at the Eclipse Even though the solar eclipse wasn't scheduled, nobody should have stared directly at it without specific glasses, especially not for a long time like Max and Warren did at the end of the episode. Indeed, while there is no danger to the eye in looking directly at a total solar eclipse, looking directly at the smallest part of a partial eclipse is very dangerous and can result in retinal damage. Episode Three - "Chaos Theory" Next Year Calendar in Max's Diary In the entry for October 9, 2013 in Max's diary, an extract of a calendar for March 2014 can be seen. It is not a mistake on the year since the days visible only happened in March 2014 and not in March 2013. There is neither an explanation regarding the meaning of this future calendar nor an actual link with the diary content for that day. Nathan's Age Despite the fact that Max mentions Nathan is 19 in her journal entry about him, his school file states that he was born on August 29, 1995, making him 18 years old. This could be explained by Max simply being misinformed, as she did not know Nathan well beforehand. Character Note Nathan.jpg Academy Record Nathan.jpg Victoria's Age Victoria's birthday is listed as August 14, 1995 on her Blackwell Student Record (which makes her 18 during the events of the game), while her social media page says that it's November 14, 1995 (which makes her 17). A lot speaks for trusting in the school record rather than Victoria's social media since it is an official document featuring her parents' signature; still, it is unclear why Victoria wouldn't use her real birth date on social media. Victoria mentions her age again in the Dark Room in episode five; if you successfully warned her before, she says: "I don't want to die like this! I'm only 18!" Victoria's social media page.jpg Academy Record Victoria.jpg Rachel's Age Rachel's Missing Person Posters state that Rachel was 19, while her Blackwell Student Record originally stated that she was 18, born July 22, 1995. However, this contradiction was corrected with a patch update on January 19, 2016, which changed her year of birth to 1994. rachel-studentfile-old.png|Original Student file rachel-studentfile.png|Updated Student file Warren's Age Warren's age is listed as 16 on his Blackwell Student Record, but the high school is specifically for seniors. The records are known to be unreliable, but there is a possibility that he has advanced a few grades due to his academic abilities. On the other hand, Chloe, for example, attended Blackwell three years ago, when she was still 16 years old, and many other students are known to attend Blackwell for a longer time period than one year. It also seems contradictory that Max writes in her journal that Warren is "her age", since they are two years apart by age. Rachel's Sign In a note to Frank, found in Frank's RV, Rachel refers to herself as a Leo; presumably the star sign. However, her date of birth would classify her as a Cancer-Leo cusp, and not a true Leo. Kate's Character Notes Max's character notes page for Kate Marsh will change in this episode, depending on whether Max manages to save her life or not. A new decal will appear on the page to cover the 'LiFE' graphic that was visible in the previous two episodes. However, there is currently an inconsistency with how these new graphics appear, due to the files being misnamed in the Unreal Engine packages (TX_Character_E3_Kate_SF, TX_Character_E4_Kate_SF, and TX_Character_E5_Kate_SF). The inconsistency was fixed in the Limited Edition . The sticker graphic that implies Kate is alive has been labelled Kate_scrapbook_dead, and the sticker graphic that implies that Kate is dead has been labelled Kate_scrapbook_alive. If Kate dies, the sticker graphic that appears after this consequence implies she is still alive ("Get Well Soon"). If Kate lives, the sticker graphic that appears implies that she has died ("Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone").DONTNOD were made aware of this inconsistency on 29th March 2017. It is unknown if a patch will be released that fixes this issue. Kate Life.png|Sticker graphic visible on Kate's page up until Episode 3. Kate scrapbook dead.png|Sticker graphic that appears on Kate's journal in error if she dies, due to a mislabeling of the game file (Kate_scrapbook_dead). Kate scrapbook alive.png|Sticker graphic that appears on Kate's journal in error if she lives, due to a mislabeling of the game file (Kate_scrapbook_alive). Max Commenting on the Family Album When browsing the Prices' photobook, Max says "I don't think I can rock that outfit like Rachel". She is referring to the picture of Rachel wearing the same plaid shirt as her. But the picture in question will only be seen after Max has turned the photobook's pages. When she makes her comment she has only seen pictures unrelated to Rachel. Max's Bangles Max's bangles change colour three times during Episode 3. They remain the standard colour (red, light blue, black) up until she wakes up in Chloe's room after a night spent breaking into Blackwell Academy (bangles now appearing to be dark purple, light blue, black). Once she puts on Rachel Amber's old clothes, the bangles change again (faded red, faded blue, faded black). The bangles revert back to their standard colours once she finds herself in 2013 in the alternative timeline at the end of the episode. Max's bangles also appear totally white in the major choice picture involving Pompidou. bangle1crop.png|Standard colours (red, light blue, black). bangle2crop.png|Colours when Max wakes up (dark purple, light blue, black). bangle3crop.png|Colours in Rachel's clothes (faded red, faded blue, faded black). TX_MajChoice_E3_6B_Dog.png|Major choice involving Pompidou (all white) Max's Handedness In Episode 2, at the Two Whales Diner, Max eats breakfast with her fork in her left hand and her knife in her right. However, in this episode, when Joyce makes Max breakfast at the Madsen Household, Max eats breakfast with her knife and fork in opposite hands. It is either an oversight or an indication that Max is actually ambidextrous. max-righthand-knife.png max-righthand-fork.png Max's SMS Timestamps The morning after the break-in at Blackwell Academy, Max will receive three text messages from Warren a few seconds after she gets up from Chloe's bed. The timestamps of these texts are: 8:13am, 8:13am, and 8:14am. Max receives no further texts while she is inside Chloe's room. Once Max exits the room, she will receive a text from 'Unknown', who turns out to be Richard Marsh (Kate's father). This text has a timestamp of 8:10am, which is prior to the timestamps on Warren's texts. A possible explanation for this could be a delay in delivery to Max's handset. Most phones will display the time a message was sent to that device, not the time it was received. Episode Four - "Dark Room" Nathan's Father Although we know that Nathan's father is named "Sean" on his Blackwell Academy report, other names seem to be listed. Sean Prescott's signature on Nathan's Best Son Certificate doesn't equal that on his School Report. Academy Record Nathan.jpg Nathan best son diploma.png Nathan's Car In David's files, Nathan's vehicle is a red 4x4 truck with a broken tail light on the driver's side and a license plate of SXFTNDR. When Max and Chloe arrive at Blackwell Academy's parking lot to attend the End of the World Party, a truck bearing the same license plate is parked on the parking lot, but it is green in colour. The model is the same, and there is no broken tail light. The tail light could easily have been fixed, but it is very strange that the truck is a different colour. There are two possible explanations for this: * Nathan's license plate was reused as a game asset to decorate a different truck. * Nathan's car got repaired and repainted after what happened to Kate to make sure no one would re-identify the car. Chloe's Height Chart A number of inconsistencies exist between Chloe's height chart from the original timeline and her height chart in the alternative timeline: Nathan's Pills There is an online drugstore website left open on Nathan's computer at the time Max explores his room. The diet pills listed there are called Dexomine. In real life, however, Dexomine is a cough suppressant, and the correct name for diet pills would be Dexamine. Warren's Shirt When fighting Nathan in the dorms, Warren isn't wearing the same t-shirt in the game and in the trailer for Episode 4 and the Limited Edition. shirt promo.jpg|Trailer limited edition screenshot. shirt box.jpg|Trailer EP4 screenshot. shirt game.png|Game screenshot. Younger Max's Hair Length Whether it's on the picture of her 10th birthday or when she was wearing a ponytail, the younger Max always had a neck-length haircut. However, in her diary Max drew her younger self with shoulder-length hair, if not even longer. Max chloe young.png The Changing Cliff The cliff (and the forest on it) supporting the lighthouse seems to have a different shape each time it is seen in the game. cliff menu.png|The cliff as it appears in the game main menu. cliff bus.png|The cliff as seen during the bus ride (Episode 2). cliff beach.png|The cliff as seen from the beach (Episode 4). Episode Five - "Polarized" Max's Belongings Max's hoodie and satchel were placed on the sofa in one of the promotional shots for this episode. In the game they are on top of crates instead. darkroom-promo.png|Promotional image. darkroom-ingame.png|Game screenshot. Max's Selfie When comparing the selfie taken by Max in the art class at the beginning of the game (the one Max put on her table) with the one enabling Max to escape the Dark Room, it appears those are utterly different even though they are supposed to be the exact same picture. Selfies.jpg Max texting David If Max needed to search in the pamphlet to find David's number, how come his name appears above Max's text? It would mean she added a new entry in her contacts directory. The issue is that she did delete the text so that the "old" Max would not be confused by this text she wouldn't remember having sent. Which would be utterly useless if the old Max ended up discovering a new contact named David in her directory instead. Max's Windbreaker After being freed by David from the dark room, Max is seen wearing a windbreaker when she comes up the stairs. There is no proper explanation regarding its origin. *Jefferson's windbreaker is obviously bigger and different (you can see him wearing it in one picture after Max tore her winning picture in half) *Max's windbreaker is nowhere to be seen in the darkroom *It seems unlikely David would think of bringing a girl windbreaker with him *The windbreaker perfectly fits Max. The only possible explanations would be the following: *Jefferson brought Rachel/another victim several times in the darkroom and she left her windbreaker once that she obviously never got back (remember that Rachel's clothes fit Max perfectly). Maybe there's a coat rack near the door that the developers forgot to put. *Max could have had the windbreaker in her satchel all along. A lot of models can actually fold up into a little pouch, easy to carry around. However, it wouldn't explain why Max didn't use it when she had her first vision before she was soaking wet. Frank's Tattoo Though Frank never had a scar tattoo on his throat throughout the series, he clearly has one in the ending of episode 1 and the Sacrifice Chloe ending while watching Chloe's funeral. Although it is possible he could have applied and removed a removable tattoo sticker, there's also a photo of Frank and Rachel Max can find in his RV in episode three, which clearly shows him with that tattoo again. This is very contradicting, but probably a design mistake. Neonvault In the first episode, the photo editing software in Jefferson's class has a name NEONVAU. However, in all subsequent appearances, e.g in the Dark Room or during Max's nightmare, it is changed to NEONVAULT. artclass-neonvau.png|Episode 1 (Photography Lab) neonvault-darkroom.png|Episode 4 (Dark Room) NEONVAULT Computer Max Nightmare.png|Episode 5 (Max's nightmare) Bacon Omelette turning into a Belgian Waffle When Max confronts her doppelganger during the nightmare sequence, the latter is seen eating either a Bacon Omelette or a Belgian Waffle (depending on what the player chose during Episode 2). However, when she spots Chloe entering the diner, the dish — whichever it was — will always turn to be a Belgian Waffle. This is because this sequence is a pre-rendered cutscene. But only the cutscene with the Belgian Waffle was included in the game. Wafflevsbacon.png| No Omelette for you, Max. Pictures Flipped over Horizontally While Max is seen looking at pictures of Chloe during the last timestream after sacrificing Chloe in the bathroom, it appears some of the pictures in the album have been flipped over horizontally. Before the Storm Pirate's Hat and Eye-Patch The pirate hat and eye-patch both seen in Chloe's room (on top of her mirror) don't match the shapes of the ones showed in the picture from Life is Strange with Chloe and Max disguised as pirates. This is a pretty obvious inconsistency since the same picture is also seen in Before the Storm (in the Prices' living room). Poster A poster hanging at Chloe's wall looks identical to a promo image for the American movie version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was released in 2011. While it made sense to be in Chloe's room in Life is Strange, in 2013 when it was already released, it doesn't make sense to be existent in Chloe's room in the prequel, one and a half years prior to the movie's release. (insert images) Soundtrack * The song that plays in Chloe's room in "Awake", "No Below" by Speedy Ortiz, was released in 2013, while the game is set in 2010. * The song that plays at the punk club the night before, "Are You Ready For Me" by Pretty Vicious, was released in 2016. Victoria's Age With Before the Storm having Victoria as a sophomore in May 2010, we are faced with the following issues: * The August DOB starts her off as a sophomore only ''in fall 2010 but fails to put her as a senior in fall 2013 with Max ''(Life is Strange: Season 1). Victoria would have graduated earlier that year in the spring. However, the extended senior year program fixes this! But she would be a freshman in in Before the Storm in may 2010, not sophomore. * The November DOB 'means she won’t even be attending high school in May 2010 ''(Before the Storm). It starts her off instead as a freshman in fall 2010 while also eventually situating her in DONTNOD's timeline to graduate the normal senior year in spring 2014 with Max. :There is more evidence in support of the August date of birth. Sophomore Issue A public statement made by the Square Enix Life is Strange Community Manager (Toby Palm) gave the following timeline information:Public post made on the Life is Strange (GAME) group on Facebook (7th July 2017): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1578433839080885/permalink/1938590309731901/ At the time of our BtS story (May 2010) Max, Chloe and most of the characters we know would be finishing their sophomore year. Here’s a mini timeline with some facts on dates and ages based on LiS1 canon: *'''May 2010: **BtS starts **It is the end of the 2009/2010 school year **Chloe is 16 **Max is 14 **Rachel is 15, going on 16 **Victoria is 14 **Warren is 13 **They are all sophomores *'October 2013:' **LiS Season 01 starts **It is the start of the 2013/2014 school year **Chloe is 19 **Max recently turned 18 **Victoria is 18 **Warren is 16 **Max, Victoria, and Warren are all seniors at Blackwell. The issue with this is that Max and Warren are being considered sophomores in May 2010 (Before the Storm) at whatever high school they are attending. There may be an explanation for Warren (e.g. 'boy genius'), but there is no obvious explanation for Max having advanced two grades. To help explain this: * Max turned 14 in 2009 after the September 1st cutoff date. This means that she wouldn't be starting high school until September the following year (fall 2010). The normal age requirement to start high school as a freshman is age 14 (i.e. turning 14 before the September 1st cutoff). It is currently unknown why Max has advanced two grades in 2010. She has a 2.8 GPA on her 2013 student information sheet, which suggests she is a low B / C / high D student (not an exemplary student). Her GPA is also said to fluctuate and she acknowledged in 2013 that she should be doing better. Price Family Photo In pre-release gameplay footage, Chloe looks at an old photo frame discoloration on the dining room wall and says, "Family pic used to hang here. I-- Wow... I can't actually remember which one." In Life is Strange: Season 1, when Chloe is 14, there is a family photo hanging in this general area that has square dimensions, but in this footage for Before the Storm, the interactive text displays the discoloration as "discolored square" when it is clearly rectangular. For visual consistency, it should be called "discolored rectangle", or to be consistent with the original game, the discoloration should be square. bts-family-photo.PNG Notes References Category:Special Content